Simbri phonology

Sound inventory


Simbri has an average-sized sound inventory, with 20 consonants and 7 vowels.

Consonants
The consonant inventory can be summarized in the following table:

Plain and glottalized series
Simbri contrasts two series of stops: the plain stops p, t, c, k and the glottalized b, d, j

The glottalized stops, b, d and j are realized as voiced implosives. The glottis is moved downwards during realization of the sound.

The glottalization is lost after a nasal: the sequences mb [mb], nd [nd], nj [ɲj] are realized in modal voice.

The uvular stop
q is realized as a glottal stop [ʔ] word-finally: larmaq 'remember' ['lar.maʔ]

After r, it's realized [q] (modal, voiceless uvular) in free variation with [ɢ] (modal, voiced uvular]: Lōqris [lo:q.ris] or [lo:ɢ.ris]

In other positions, the plain uvular realization [q] is in free variation with the uvular ejective [q'].

Distribution of palatal, velar and uvular stops.
The consonants k and q never occur before a front vowel.

c and k, q and j only contrast before the vowels a, o, ā, ō.

The palatals ny and ll

The palatals ny and ll are realized as geminates: [ʎʎ], [ɲɲ] between vowels, with a syllable break:

They are contrastive phonemes only before a vowel. [ɲ] does occur before the palatal consonants c, j, ch, sh but does not contrast with n in that position.
 * xalli [çaʎ.ʎi] 'beautiful'
 * nanya ['naɲ.ɲa] 'afraid'

The nasals
n is realized as a velar nasal [ŋ] before k, q, ch, x:


 * manqâ ['maŋ.qɑ] 'looked for'.

n is realized as a palatal nasal [ɲ] before c, j, ch, sh:


 * anshe ['aɲ.ʃe] 'cooking pan'

The nasals m, n are realized as prenasalized stops before r or a non-homorganic consonant:


 * simri ['siᵐb.ri] 'Simbri'
 * anrer ['aⁿd.rer], 'vinegar'
 * tōmqeyi ['to:ᵐb'ʄeji], 'he is a protector of the people'
 * tlamjō ['t͡ɬam.ʄo:] 'rodent ham'

The bilabial fricative/approximant
w is pronounced [ʋ] before another consonant: qawchō ['qaʋ.t͡ʃuː], 'to undress'.

The rhotic
The rhotic r is only present as a phoneme in the dialects of Cardosa and Lōqris.

In those dialects, r and l only contrast word finally: aner 'to cook' ~ anel 'saucer'. l never occurs medially, while r can't occur word-initially.

In all other dialects r and l merge as [l]

Vowels
The vowel system of Simbri is as follows:

Short vowels.
e, o are realized [e, o] in open syllables:


 * motas ['mo.tas], Tarande [ta.'ran.de]

They're realized as [ɛ, ɔ] in closed syllables:


 * yeymo ['jɛj.mʊ], motox ['mo.tɔç]

o is noticeably raised word-finally, occasionally realized as [ʊ]:


 * yeymo ['jɛj.mʊ]

Long vowels.
Simbri has two long vowels, ā and ō. They differ in quality and quantity from their short counterparts.


 * ō is realized [o:] in both open and closed consonants, and often [u:] word-finally: Kandô ['kan.du:].
 * It may be realized as a diphtong in closed consonants, specifically in the Cardosa and Loqris dialects: Lōqris [loʊɢ.ris]
 * ā is long, backed and pharyngealized [ɑˤ:] qān [q'ɑˤ:n] 'no, not'

Phonotactics
Simbri allows the following syllable types: V, VC, CVC and CV. Medial clusters are restricted to two consonants.

Two adjacent vowels form two distinct syllables:


 * taiqo [ta.'i.qo] 'If he knew'.
 * Manqeoteq [maŋ.ʄe.'o.teʔ] (god name)

Initials
All consonants may occur word-initially, except for r.

Finals
Simbri only allows the following consonants word-finally: m, n, l, r, s, sh, t, tl, q

Medial clusters
Simbri is fairly free in terms of which clusters may occur as long as they do so medially (no initial clusters are allowed) and are restricted to two consonants. Any two consonant may be brought together as a result of vowel syncope; most resulting clusters are acceptable.

It's worth noting that:


 * ll does not occur in consonant clusters.
 * ny never occurs before a non palatal. ny and n do not contrast before a palatal, n is always used in the tomanization.

Assimilation rules
There are still a few restrictions; these cases are resolved through the following rules:

Stress
Stress is determined according to the following rules:


 * Stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable.
 * If the penultimate syllable begins with b or d, stress moves to the following syllable.

For instance:


 * taiqo (penulimate stress)
 * watleqambar (penultimate stress)
 * Cardosa (d moves the stress to the following syllable).

The stressed syllable is higher in pitch, longer, and louder.

Secondary stress falls on every other syllable before main stress:


 * watleqambar [ˌwa.t͡ɬeˈq'am.bar]
 * Cardosa [,car.ɗoˈsa]
 * Watlewōsikasmās [,wa.t͡ɬ]e,wo:.si.ˈkas.mɑˤ:s]

Vowel syncope
The chief morphophonemic process in Simbri is vowel syncope.


 * Adding a prefix will trigger the deletion of the first vowel following the prefix.
 * Adding a suffix will trigger the deletion of the vowel immediately preceding the suffix.

A few examples:


 * The tense markers:
 * future tense -is: jecha 'he runs' → jechis 'he will run', cawen 'he sows it' → cawnis 'he will sow it'
 * past tense -et: cawen 'he sows it' → cawnet 'he sowed it'

One exception to that rule: person and number markers do not trigger vowel syncope: jecha → wa-jecha
 * The suffix -atl 'to seem, o appear as if' deletes the last vowel: ōrjō → ōrjatl 'he seems to be running'
 * The iterative ko- deletes the first vowel: wecha, 'to write' → kowcha, 'to rewrite'

run → 1-run

'he runs' → 'I run'

doawen → wa-do-awen-jan

VI-sow → 1-VI-sow-PL.OBL

'he plants it' → 'I plant them'

Compounds
The vowel syncope rule applies to compounds. As a rule, the last vowel of the first component in the compound is lost:


 * kekki 'snake' + akla 'bite' →kekkakla 'snake-bite'
 * noyar 'make, fashion' + tlomris 'shoe' →noytlomris 'to make shoes'

Cluster resolution
A difficulty occurs when vowel deletion would result in the formation of an illegal cluster.

The following rules are applied:

1. The assimilation rules described below apply first:


 * ny, ll will not occur in a cluster with another consonant.
 * ny→n before any consonant. But ny + n, ny + l, ny + ll→ny, realized as a geminate /ɲɲ/
 * ll →l before any consonant. But, similarly: ll + l or ll + n→ll, realized as a geminate /ʎʎ/
 * ll + any consonant →l
 * ny + any consonant except palatals →n
 * ny + a palatal is written n but pronounced [ɲ]
 * t + sh is realized as the affricate ch /tʃ/
 * t + ch or ch + ch are realized /tt͡ʃ/, romanized as tch
 * t + l is realized as the lateral affricate tl [t͡ɬ]
 * t + tl or tl + tl or tl + l→/tt͡ɬ/, romanized as ttl
 * s + sh, or sh + s, or sh + sh →/ʃʃ/, romanized as ssh
 * s + ts or ts + s →ss

A few examples:


 * citlel 'he steals it' → cittlet 'he stole it' (tl + l → ttl)


 * tlewonyan 'she's his enemy' → tlewonyet 'she will be his enemy' (ny + n → ny)

2. Geminate rule: if, after applying vowel deletion, a cluster of three consonants, with two identical consonants into contact, one of these is deleted and the vowel is deleted.


 * dassis 'she dances' + past tense -et→*dassset →dasset 'it seemed to be open' (the geminate ss simplifies to a single s).


 * causative wō + borrō 'it is cool' →*wōbrrō →wōbrō 'to cool'

In addition: tch is reduced to ch, ttl is reduced to tl, ssh is reduced to sh:


 * potchi 'to mix' + tlomon 'pebble' →pochtlomon 'to make concrete'

s + ts or ts + s →ss as seen above; this is further reduced to a simple s if followed by another consonant:


 * bastis 'to fish' + kocha 'cod' →*bastskocha→baskocha 'to fish cod'

3. Nasal simplification: if, following vowel deletion a cluster of three consonant is formed, including a sequence of a nasal + a voiced, implosive stop, the stop will be deleted (and the vowel as well)


 * ōminder 'I like it' + past tense -et →ominret 'I liked it'


 * watlondis 'I'm careful' + past tense -et → watlonset 'I was careful'.

4. Rhotic deletion: if - after applying rules 1 to 3 -- vowel deletion still leads to a cluster of three consonants, and that cluster includes the rhotic r, the rhotic is deleted:


 * causative wō + larmaq 'to remember' → *wōlrmaq →wōlmaq 'to remind'.


 * bortlon 'he predicts the weather' + future -is →*bortlnis →botlnis 'he will predict the weather'.
 * noyar 'make, fashion' + tlomris 'shoe' →noytlomris 'to make shoes'

5. Last consonant rule: if, after applying the rules above, a cluster of three consonants is still present, including a nasal, the consonant following the nasal will be deleted:


 * Repetitive ko + simqâs 'to count' > *kosmqās > kosmās 'to count again'

Vowel change
Several morphophemic processes may involve replacing a back vowel with a front vowel, notably number marking:
 * tlebaqo [t͡ɬeɓaqo] 'it has eaten her' → tlebaqi [t͡ɬeɓaʄi] 'they have eaten her'.

Or aspect-voice marking:


 * tlekokmon [t͡ɬekɔkmɔn] 'he summons him' → kemon [cekmɔn] 'he habitually summons'

In those cases, the following rule apply:


 * kV →ci, ce
 * qV →ʄi, ʄe.

For simplicity's sake, and to make the connection with the base form clearer, we keep the romanization k, q in those cases.

The romanization rule is as follows:


 * k is /k/ before a, o, ā, ō. k is /c/ before i, e
 * q is /c/ before a, o, ā, ō. k is /ʄ/ before i, e

Here the romanization follows the native usage:

(pic)

The dialect of Qanan
The dialect of Qanan (Qananse) is generally characterized by a small consonant inventory, compared with CL Simbri:


 * S. Simbri /q/ corresponds to a glottal stop /ʔ/ in all positions
 * It has no laterals:
 * standard Simbri /l/  →/r/
 * Simbri /tl/ corresponds to Qanandse /ts/
 * It has no palatal series:
 * Simbri c, k →Qanandse /k/
 * Simbri j, q →Qanandse /ʔ/
 * Simbri ch →Qanandse /ts/
 * Simbri /sh/ →Qanandse /h/
 * Simbri /ɲ/ →Qanandse /n/
 * Simbri /ʎ/ →Qanandse /r/

A few examples:

The Kando valley dialect (Kandot)

 * The Kando river valley, on the contrary, has no rhotic.
 * standard Simbri /r/ →/l/
 * O Simbri /tl/ corresponds to Kandot /t/
 * It has no palatal series:
 * Simbri c, k →KV /k/
 * Simbri j, q →KV /q/
 * Simbri ch →KV /ts/
 * Simbri /sh/ →KV /h/
 * Simbri /ɲ/ →KV /n/
 * Simbri /ʎ/ →KV /r/

It has a full series of long vowels: ē, ī, ō, ā.


 * ē most often corresponds to palatal + short a in O Simbri
 * ī most often corresponds to palatal + e or i in O Simbri.
 * ō, ā generally correspond to o, a in O Simbri.

Some dialects within the Kandot groups have diphthongs instead of long vowels. Typical values:


 * ē [ej]
 * ī [je]
 * ō [ou]
 * ā [aə]

Eastern dialects.
Eastern (or delta) dialects are characterized by an even more minimal inventory: Essentially Eastern dialects lost the glottalized consonants. In compensation, it innovated a tonal system (glottalized consonants generaly correspond to a low or rising tone)

Northern dialects.
Northern dialects show:


 * No palatization.
 * An additional series of prenasalized stops.
 * A vowel system comprising four short vowels: a, e, i, o and five long vowels: āēīōū

Central Dialects
The Holy Valley dialects are generally quite close to the standard.

Several main differences:


 * O Simbri ā is realized aa [a.a] (with a syllable break) or even [aʀa]
 * o is a dipthong [ou]
 * r is lost after a.
 * r and l are distinct; depending on the dialect, r may be alveolar, or uvular [ʀ]
 * r can occur vowel initially (it often corresponds to O Simbri /q/)
 * Some dialects, like Northern Simbri, preserve prenasalized consonants.
 * sh corresponds to x, a velar fricative before a, o, ç before e, i.

Arjiretl
Traditional Arjiretl merges /q/ and /k/ (as k), /tl/ and /l/. Clusters of r + consonants are replaced with a geminate rj > rr

There is no distinction of vowel length. In rural areas, all stops are voiced before a vowel; p is realised [b], b [] making the distinction purely one of glottalization.

s is pronounced voiced [z] and dropped word-finally; sh is pronounced (post-alveolar something) or [s]

Lowgris / Tlimma dialect

Interestingly both these dialects share similar features:

long o and long a are realized as diphthongs.

short o is realized u.

m / mb, d / nd are in free variation, generally intervocally, but occasionnally word-initially.

Stress falls consistently on the penultimate; the b/d rule does not apply.

All word-final o's are diphthongs: ou.

The Tlimma dialect, interestingly, shares several feature with the Lowqris dialect. It has palatals, but replaced the glottalized/plain distinction by one of tone.

It shares with Lowqris dialect the tendency to realize long o as a diphtongs, and word-final o as ou.